GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Virginia 55, James Madison 50
(AP Photo/Erin Edgerton)
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Kihei Clark scored 17 points, Jayden Gardner had 14 points and eight rebounds, and No. 3 Virginia beat feisty in-state rival James Madison 55-50.
The Cavaliers (8-0), who lost starting guard Reece Beekman to a right leg injury early in the first half, prevented the Dukes (7-3) from winning a second straight December game in Charlottesville. James Madison beat Virginia 52-49 last Dec. 7.
Takal Molson scored 20 points for James Madison, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 42-all with 7:47 to play. Gardner responded for Virginia by scoring five straight points in a 9-1 run.
The Cavaliers kept the Dukes in the game by missing eight of 13 free throws over the last six minutes.
Molson made an acrobatic layup while being fouled with 1:51 left, but he missed the free throw. He scored again with 1:01 left, pulling the Dukes within 52-50, but freshman Ryan Dunn answered with a strong move on the baseline for Virginia with 35 seconds to play.
James Madison threw the ball away on its ensuing possession.
BIG PICTURE
James Madison: The Dukes came into the game shooting 52.7% but made just four of their first 19 shots and finished 15 of 55 (26.9%). Vado Morse scored 11 points, the only other JMU player in double figures.
Virginia: The Cavaliers played the final 36 minutes without Beekman and gave extensive minutes to freshman Isaac McKneely. Virginia will hope Beekman, its third-leading scorer and a primary ballhandler and defender, recovers in time for its showdown with No. 1 Houston on Dec. 17.
December 6, 2022
| James Madison | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| M. Offurum | F | 25 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| J. Amadi | F | 21 | 2-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| V. Morse | G | 30 | 3-10 | 2-2 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| T. Molson | G | 29 | 6-15 | 6-9 | 2-5 | 0-6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| N. Freidel | G | 25 | 2-7 | 3-3 | 2-4 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| T. Ihenacho | 18 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| A. Sule | 18 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| J. Wooden | 15 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| T. Edwards | 13 | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| X. Brown | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Totals | 199 | 15-55 (.273) |
13-18 (.722) |
7-23 (.304) |
13-41 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 50 | |
| Virginia | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Gardner | F | 32 | 5-7 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 2-8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| K. Shedrick | F | 25 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| K. Clark | G | 39 | 5-11 | 6-12 | 2-5 | 0-2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| A. Franklin | G | 26 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 0-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| R. Beekman | G | 4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| I. McKneely | 26 | 1-6 | 1-2 | 1-5 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| B. Vander Plas | 26 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 0-5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| R. Dunn | 19 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| T. Murray | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 19-45 (.422) |
12-24 (.500) |
5-21 (.238) |
3-33 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 55 | |
